NORAD intercepts Air France flight; this is not a drill.

[Abbynormalguy]

I'm not sure which forum this would appear on, but here goes nothing...


if you have a good scanner in So Cal, tune to 271.0, set it in AM mode and listen to Norad intercept Air France flight 68, due at LAX 515pm

two F16s from AZ current refueling off Pacific




found on http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1048961/posts



As of 12:30am Central time, 31 Dec 2003, there has been no news reports about this.

Thanks to fark.com for posting this message on their server to notify others about this.

[Ale]

Between all the "BUMP!"s, French bashing and "what´s going on?" I don´t see what´s your point.

[Ale]

Between all the "BUMP!"s, French bashing and "what´s going on?" I don´t see what´s your point.

[Brutus]

Familiar with the Farkovian acronym, 'RTFA? Apparently not. Learn it, and use it.

1) It is not a proper news article. It is a link to a posting at a forum.

2) The post at the forum (if it is to be believed, which we have no reason to do) indicates that this has been going on for a while.

[Boo Boo Foo]

Brutus? So what's going on? Is it for real, or just someone writing posts on another postboard making out it's for real? And our little friend here bought it, hook, line and sinker?

[Boo Boo Foo]

Also, since when do Air France flights come into the USA from the Pacific, instead of the Atlantic? And why would two F-16's from Arizona, of all places, be getting refueled in air over the Pacific when there are a million, squillion USAF and US NAVY Carrier based F18's between Pearl Harbour and San Diego?

Sounds like total bullshit to me, and I haven't even looked at the link.

[Brutus]

P-3 Orion ASW aircraft used to fly from here in Michigan (since rebased further east) to train over the Atlantic. I think our various air forces must get frequent flyer miles...

From my understanding of the linked-to posts (at Free Republic):

1) Someone is/was listening to NORAD traffic. Certainly possible, since I have done so myself, especially when there is an airshow here at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. (You can hear when the good stuff is showing up!) Unencrypted and whatnot.

2) Supposedly, they have heard that F-16's are being refuelled over the Pacific.

A) Maybe we do that for saftey reasons? KC-10s and KC-135s have a crapload of jetfuel, which we probably don't want turning into expensive napalm in case of an accident over a city.

B) Maybe the flights in question are coming from the western Pacific area?

3) Again, according to the poster, the Airforce has been intercepting Air France flights and flights out of Mexico. I don't believe he mentioned how many or any real details.

This smacks of either total BS, or of much ado about nothing. If we had specific information, we would be getting air marshalls on those flights. Not to mention, it is more efficient to patrol various cities than it is to 'intercept' a bunch of flights. Unless we are going to be shooting down every Air France or Mexican flight, it seems to be a bit of a waste.

Of course, there has been talk of terrorists coming in via Air France and/or flights from Mexico, so who knows. (As I cleverly cover all possibilities!)

[DanBlather]

This is more serious than I thought. Apparently terrorists were going to hijack an Air France plane and force the passengers to watch Jerry Lewis movies as in-flight entertainment.

[laigle]

Wouldn't surprise me after the events last week really. Seems fairly reasonable to have fighters escorting certain international flights, and that could have easily been mistaken for intercepting them. Of course, it could also be standard anonymous garbage on the net. No big deal either way.

[KidCharlemagne]

Originally posted by Brutus
Familiar with the Farkovian acronym, 'RTFA?

I'm not. Read the fucking.......?

[Brutus]

Article.

If the article had been actually read, it probably wouldn't have been posted at Fark, much less with a scrolling 'News' tag.

[Airblairxxx]

Merde!

[Broomstick]

From the January 1, 2004 New York Times

Relevant quotes:

ASHINGTON, Dec. 31 — The American authorities in the last week directed a United States-bound flight from Mexico to turn around in midair and imposed extraordinary security measures on at least six other incoming flights because of terrorist concerns, federal officials said Wednesday.

Military F-16 fighter jets have also shadowed some foreign flights from Air France and other airlines arriving at major American cities, including Los Angeles, an administration official said.

From the January 1, 2004 Washington Post

Revleant quote:

One example of the unusually stringent security measures in recent days came in Los Angeles, where F-16 fighter jets escorted at least two Air France flights as they landed at Los Angeles International Airport late Tuesday and yesterday, according to aviation officials and witnesses. One senior aviation source said yesterday that fighter planes have been trailing specific Air France and Mexican airline flights bound for Los Angeles all week.

I tried to find a mention of this in the French press, but was not successful, although I did find a number of articles discussing the US security requirements - Here's one for reference. Due to time differences between Pairs and Los Angeles, the news about the intercept may not have made it to the France in time for today's edition.